"Hold your baby's hand instead of a bottle"

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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Losing baby weight: Breastfeeding really is the secret!

The health benefits for breastfeeding should be enough to motivate new moms to make the commitment (and there are too many health benefits to cover that are lifelong for both mom and child), but sometimes that isn't enough. Instant gratification is a great motivator and you should know that breastfeeding helps lose baby weight!

John Travolta's wife is just one more mom who chose to breastfeed their new baby boy Benjamin - they sooo stole that name from me! ;) and his wife Kelly Preston states that breastfeeding "really is the secret" to losing that baby weight!

Check out the People article here.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Genetically Modified Cows to produce "Like Human Breast Milk"

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my time is limited now and I definitely plan to blog more once I get a better handle on some personal family issues. With that said, I had to post about a disgusting "scientific abomination" that's made its way into the news.


I have to begin by making it clear that NO ANIMAL can ever replace human breastmilk. No factory, scientist or formula can ever come close to substituting what a baby's own mother can naturally produce, specifically for her child. I believe I posted in the list of Breastmilk 101 post that a mother's milk CHANGES every day, every week and every month to meet HER baby's needs. If a mother is exposted to a germ / bug / cold in her environment, her milk will pass on immunities to her baby, because the body knows that whatever mom is exposed to, her baby will be as well. No cow or scientist can know what each individual baby needs and no formula will ever be able to constantly change to meet each baby's continually changing needs. As baby grows and develops, the mother's body naturally adjusts the ratios of fat, protein, carbs, sugars and other enzymes specifically for her baby. The milk a woman produces for her premature baby is different than the milk a women produces for her full term baby. The milk at birth changes by 3 months and by 6 months. The milk continues to change as long as the mother is nursing. The milk at 12 months or 24 months after giving birth is different.

Highlights from the article:

In an attempt to artifically replicate a baby formula closer to human milk, scientists are "using genetically modified embryos crossed with human genes, then implanted into surrogate cows. The result is a cow that produces milk containing a human protein called lysozyme, making it closer to the nutritional composition of human breast milk."

"Of course, the mad scientists pushing this scheme will claim it's a way for women who can't produce breast milk to buy a source of human-like milk for their babies. But that's nonsense: We already have a whole species of HUMAN WOMEN who can produce breast milk"

As a mother, I'm learning to importance of asking WHY? instead of just accepting things as if that's the way they should be. "Why genetically engineer cows with human genes when we already have humans with human genes who can create PERFECT human breast milk?"  Why? I believe it's all about money. Nobody makes money off a mother nursing her baby.

"Bovine milk is food for baby cows, and yet the milk industry has somehow convinced human adults that they need to keep consuming this baby cow beverage. Just the fact that so many human beings keep drinking pasteurized, homogenized, processed cow's milk through their entire life is utterly bizarre to begin with." When I had to give up all dairy products while I was nursing Ben, I remember telling myself over and over again, "You're just giving up cow's breast milk" and that idea kinda made me feel sick. I will admit that I loved me some cow breast milk, and still do, but I've come to realize that it just wasn't meant for humans, let alone adult humans.

I completely agree with the closing statement of this article: "God and Mother Nature already created the perfect nutritional beverage for human babies hundreds of thousands of years ago, with NO science, no patents, no FDA, no technology and no corporations whatsoever. It's called human breast milk and there is no substitute." AMEN!

My favorite Picaso!



A human mother feeding her human baby. This is beautiful. This is natural. Breastfeeding is natural and perfectly designed by God.

I pray that expecting and future mothers will not be swayed to believe that any substitute, no matter how close scientists or marketing advertising companies claim it is, can ever compare to what she alone can make for her baby.

In an interesting article about American cow milk being banned in Eurpoe and Canada, I had to include this quote:

“It’s not natural for humans to drink cow’s milk. Humans milk is for humans. Cow’s milk is for calves. You have no more need of cow’s milk than you do rats milk, horses milk or elephant’s milk. Cow’s milk is a high fat fluid exquisitely designed to turn a 65 lb baby calf into a 400 lb cow. That’s what cow’s milk is for!” – Dr Michael Klaper MD

This is natural too: A cow feeding her calf.

Not Natural

It's a difficult concept to accept when we grew up on cow milk. Cow milk was a staple in my diet and during my pregnancy with Ben I drank gallons (literally a half a gallon in one day) toward the end of the pregnancy. I drank it more than water while I was nursing.  I think I hoped the cow milk would increase my milk supply. I believed it was good for you. Now I can clearly see that cow milk is meant for baby calves, and is not as beneficial for human health as we are told through billions of dollars worth of advertising. It's easy to believe that "milk does a body good" when you've been brainwashed to think so. The more you look into it the more you too will learn that milk can actually do a body a lot of bad. If you're interested in learning an alternative understanding of milk read, "Don't drink your milk: New Frightening Medical Facts About the World's Most Overrated Nutrient" by Frank A Oski.


You can find plenty of information on the web too:
Processing is the problem
Milk: Does it really do a body good?

If you've just gotta have that cow breast milk you might want to do some research on RAW cow milk, which is becomming a movement to shift gears and go back to how we use to drink milk - before lactose intolerant and milk allergies ever existed. You can read more about the benefits of Raw milk at:
Discovering Raw Milk
RealMilk.com
Should you drink raw, aka "real" cow milk?

Upon my research into raw milk, I was shocked to learn that there is actually a legal battle with the FDA over whether or not farmers should legally be allowed to sell raw milk! I haven't spent enough time researching the legal aspect of purchasing and consuming raw milk, but apparently the FDA claims we have "no natural right to food" and I'm beginning to question if money really is at the root of why a time old tradition like selling fresh, raw cow milk is being made illegal. Similarly, a nursing mother cannot sell her breastmilk or receive money for it. She can only donate it to a breast bank that can then charge a very high price to sell it to mothers in need.

WHY? I encourage everyone to ask this question in regard to everything. Be like our kids who want to understand why? why? and WHY? What? is another question we need to be considering. What kind of future are we creating here? A generation of women who don't understand the benefits of breastfeeding, who aren't taught / supported how to do it, and are persuaded into artificial baby food. Why are we creating a world where modified (or not) cows feed our human babies? It looks like we are heading toward becomming a society where farmers can no longer sell fresh produce, dairy or livestock too. WHY?

What a sad, scary world we are creating for our kids.

I found too many cartoons to go along with today's post and here's a few:





*I do NOT own these photos. No copyright intended.*